Pontius Pilate lived from about 20 B.C. until 36 A.D. In 1961, during an excavation at Caesarea Maritima, Italian archaeologist Dr. Antonio Frova discovered a limestone block bearing the name Pontius Pilate in Latin, connecting Pilate to the reign of Emperor Tiberius. He was governor of the Roman province of Judea from 26-36 A.D. He is best known as the judge of the trial of Jesus Christ and the man who later ordered his crucifixion in 33 A.D. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (c. 37-100 A.D.), who witnessed the Roman invasion of Palestine, as well as Tacitus, a Roman historian (c. 55-120 A.D.), have confirmed the existence of Pilate. Tacitus said: "Christus, from whom [Christians] take their name, was executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius Caesar" |Annals 15.44|

However, both Philo and Josephus paint a very grim picture of the Roman ruler. He is characterized as oppressive, greedy, stubborn and cruel. Philo cites in particular his venality, his violence, his thefts, his aggressions, his abusive behavior, his frequent executions of untried prisoners, and his endless savage ferocity". He led a ruthless crackdown on the Jews and Samaritans when individuals from these groups showed disloyalty to Rome. The Book of Luke mentions an episode in which Pilate on one occasion slaughtered Galilean Jews while they were praying, mingling their own blood with that of their offerings.

• Luke 13:1 "At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.."

Note that in the calendar of the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) and Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Churches, they celebrate St. Pontius Pilate's Day on June 25. Both churches have elevated him to sainthood and assigned a day of feast to him. 

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According to Coptic Church tradition, Pilate's wife testified to the Messianic nature of Christ, whereas Pilate eventually repented of his sin and begged for forgiveness over Christ's burial site. He then converted to Christianity and became a discreet Christian, before the Romans and the Jews put him to death. They first crucified him on his own cross, then brought him down and crucified him on the cross of Christ to mock him and imitate the sufferings of Christ. Finally, he was brought back to Rome where they beheaded him, and he thus obtained the crown of martyrdom.

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In the Synaxaria of the Greeks, they mention the date of commemoration of Procla, Pilate's wife, on October 28. And Tertullian makes her almost a saint |Pol. c. Gentes, cap. 21|. The reason their names were canonized among the saints is that Pilate, by washing his hands, attested to the innocence of Jesus, while Procla sought to dissuade her husband from complying with the demands of the Jews.

Herod Antipas was born in 21 BC and died after 39 AD. He was one of the sons of Herod the Great and succeeded his father. He was tetrarch of Galilee, i.e. ruler of a quarter of his father's kingdom. He divorced his Nabataean wife, the daughter of Aretas IV, to marry Herodias, wife of his brother Philip. This union offended his former father-in-law, and when John the Baptist reproached Antipas for this marriage, Herodias incited her husband to imprison John in the Machaerus jail. Still impassive, she persuaded her daughter Bôzîyâ to demand John's head in exchange for a dance at her father-in-law's birthday party. Some say that Herodias' daughter was named Bôzîyâ, but others say that she was also called Hérodias, after her mother. Bôzîyâ danced before the guests, and pleased Herod and his nobles.

• Matthew 14:6-7 "On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give to her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted and sent to have John beheaded in the prison."

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Herodias thought that John's death would free her and her daughter from reproach, so that they could freely indulge their sexual desires, for Herod was committing sexual immorality with both mother and daughter |The Book of the Bee, Chap 41|. Antipas reluctantly beheaded John, and later, when Jesus' miracles were reported to him, he thought John the Baptist had been resurrected.

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His father, Herod the Great, was king of Israel in 40 B.C. and reigned until his death in 4 B.C. He was a violent, jealous and paranoid man who had at least nine wives and many children. He killed his beloved wife, many children from Bethlehem and a bunch of people from the royal family. Jesus was born shortly before the death of Herod the Great.

Tiberius, whose full name is Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (his original name was Tiberius Claudius Nero), was born on November 16, 42 B.C. and died on March 16, 37 A.D. at Capreae [Capri], near Naples. Tiberius was raised by his adoptive father Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavius, who had married his mother, Livia Drusilla. He became the second emperor of Rome between 14-37 CE and sought to preserve the imperial institutions and boundaries of Augustus.

There were many rumors about Tiberius, from sexual depravity to simple sadism. The walls of the imperial palace were covered with pornographic images, such as those still on display in the brothel at Pompeii. It is said that Tiberius ordered groups of young boys to perform orgies in front of him to stimulate his failing libido. He made his table companions drink large quantities of wine before tying ligatures around their genitals, preventing them from urinating. He trained children, whom he called his "little fish", to swim between his thighs when he took a bath and to bite his genitals. And this is not the only horrible accusation against him. It is also said that he took newborn babies from their mothers and held them against his genitals, hoping that they would react to his touch as if they were at their mother's breast. In his final years, he became a tyrannical recluse, inflicting a reign of terror on Rome's leading figures.